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Living with inoperable pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Sep 12, 2023 | Replies (43)Comment receiving replies
I'm glad you responded and let some of your frustrations out. I feel for you having to think of a move and also talking with your husband about serious things. It is good that you and your husband are talking about things because it may help him in the future & also give him more memories of you. I hope you find a facility that will have your best interest at heart. I do understand living isolated. I live in the country, rural area with farms and some houses around, not saying this is your situation. That's kinda scary thinking your oncologist could have you "whisked away". I hope that doesn't happen, this should be your choices & decisions, even if your oncologist means well. Being close to family is a good thing too. I can appreciate how going anywhere can take it out of you. That's smart to take it easy on your self. I thought I was the only one rifling through cabinets looking for chocolate or whatever! It's strange, one week I want sweets, the next week it's chips, this week I couldn't get enough of tomatoes, weird! I can't imagine how hard this is for you and I would never say I know how you feel because I don't. My tumor in the tail is about 3.5 centimeters & the 2 lesions on my liver aren't that large, so at this time I'm stable, but who knows what the future holds. I hope you don't have a lot of pain because that's what I saw with my mom & her gallbladder cancer. I saw your other message. That's wonderful to have soothing music to help reduce stress! I have always liked Handel's Water Music and of course, The Messiah. One of my favorite experiences was going to a Messiah Sing A Long with part of the Milwaukee Symphony & soloists. This was at the Milwaukee PAC & altos, sopranos, tenors & bass sat in assigned areas of the auditorium. It gave me goose bumps because those of us in the auditorium sang the choir parts with the Symphony accompanying us & the soloists. It sounded so amazing and my voice was gone the next day! I have also found Vivaldi very good also but you need to like violins. I'm glad you have been able to find some things to keep your mind at peace or at least take your mind off of your situation. Thank you also for you good thoughts & prayers. Wishing you well and thinking of you. Take care.
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Your living situation sounds very much like mine (close to Madison but still managing to be in "farm" country).
Cravings -- opinions seem to be divided as to whether they are "telling" us anything useful, although I could swear that plain old iodized Morton's salt does seem to have satisfied the salt craving even better than the LiteSalt my oncologist wanted me to use for my "Chemo Feet / Venous Insufficiency" post Chemo complication or the Himalayan pink salt I really like.
Pain -- again sounds as if we have more similarities. I do have an incidental gall stone found on my last scan, which in the setting of pancreatic cancer is advised to be watched & ultrasound ablated if, I guess, it becomes unbearable. Either way I'm glad to have a plausible explanation for the occasional stabbing pains under my rib cage on the right side.
And yes, I've done a sing-along Messiah a couple of times, once in the tiny local church in the Chicago suburb where I grew up (my mother was still alive) and again at a Midnight Mass in Madison. Very satisfying. Wish I could still carry a tune!
I like Vivaldi, but find that with so many works of Handel's to explore (he is reputed to have composed more music than the 3 B's combined!) I don't seem to get around to other composers, except when YouTube ponies them up for me!
I've cleared the Social Work hurdle and so am, I think, "good to go" regarding the planned move.
Take care, and best wishes.
Below, I've pasted a photo that represents Joy to me. It's my late still sorely missed "York" [brown standard poodle} running through the tall grass on the track to the "back 40" on our farm[ette], followed enthusiastically by my current snuggle companion "Maggie" [black and white parti-colored standard poodle coming in currently at about 50 lbs, so still too big to come with me to the new facility]. Thankfully I found an old note that indicated York grieved for about 2 months after we lost his original companion (yep, another standard poodle). I'm glad that they are less brittle than their human mom, and I know my husband takes excellent care of them. I'm encouraging him to get a little more touchy-feely and "make much of them" whenever he can. Advice from a wise riding instructor from some time in years past.